Former CNN host Don Lemon cast himself as a persecuted journalist in a Substack post Saturday, quoting the Bible while responding to his arrest last month on federal charges stemming from an anti-ICE protest at a Minnesota church.
Lemon, who was released without bail Friday, says he was acting as a journalist, while prosecutors allege he coordinated with activists who disrupted services at Cities Church.
“There is a passage in scripture that says, ‘The truth shall set you free,’” Lemon wrote, quoting John 8:32. “But it does not say it will protect you from cages. It does not say it will spare you the consequences of seeing too clearly. It does not say it will make the powerful comfortable.”
Lemon said he learned that lesson “not from theology, but from experience,” writing that “the government decided that my work as a journalist was not protected speech, but punishable.”
Throughout the post, Lemon likened his arrest to historic efforts to silence journalists and civil rights figures, writing that press freedom only exists so long as it does not challenge those in power.
Lemon wrote that America “loves the idea of a free press,” but only so long as journalism does not “disturb comfort” or “expose what power would rather conceal,” saying the First Amendment exists to protect accountability, not convenience.
Prosecutors charged Lemon with conspiracy to deprive rights and a FACE Act violation stemming from his involvement in an anti-ICE protest that disrupted church services in Minnesota.
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Lemon drew attention earlier this month after livestreaming activists who entered St. Paul’s Cities Church during Sunday services, and has said he was present in a journalistic capacity, while the indictment alleges he coordinated with protest organizers prior to their arrival.
According to a federal affidavit dated Jan. 20, parishioners told investigators that agitators blocked stairwells and aisles inside the church, preventing parents from reaching children in a downstairs childcare area and making it difficult for worshipers to leave the sanctuary.
One parishioner reported fearing the agitators may have been armed after hearing shouting that sounded like the word “shoot.”
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Other churchgoers described agitators yelling in the faces of parishioners, including women and young children, causing some children to cry.
One woman fell and was injured as worshipers fled through a side exit, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit alleges the group entered the church in a coordinated manner, disrupted the service and intimidated parishioners, forcing it to be cut short.
During the incident, video reviewed by investigators shows a church pastor asking one individual to leave the building, saying he needed to “take care of my church and my family.”
The pastor appeared visibly distressed as activists continued to confront him, according to the affidavit.
Despite those allegations, Lemon compared his arrest to the treatment of civil rights leaders and journalists he said were punished for challenging power, citing Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and James Baldwin.
